in another thread we got a guy talking about all kinds of geeky stats and yet if we mention somebody who doesn't exactly fit his idea of a valid comparison, he says his head will explode. now we got a guy who uses corporate flowcharts to show how the cavs roster was developed???

now i think my head will explode.

i don't drink and i don't do drugs. i go to work every day, pay my taxes and exercise my right to vote every chance i get. i guess i'm pretty much a very boring guy and so i just watch the damn games to be entertained and to escape the reality of my sad-sack life as i live vicariously through my sports heroes for 2 or 3 hours a night or on a sunday afternoon. i don't need all kinds of statistical analyses and computer-aided design flowcharts to tell me what i can and can't see with my own two eyes.

the cavs have a damn good team and as they are currently constructed, they have a very real shot at winning the nba championship this year. they addressed all of their weaknesses this past off-season and despite losing their top 2 point guards recently, they have still managed to forge a 7-game winning streak with 4 of those wins coming against teams with the upper echelon of the nba's elite players with kobe bryant in los angeles, dwyane wade in miami, chris bosh in toronto and kevin durant in okc.

oh and did i mention that they will be getting leon powe back on the court sometime soon???

i still say they really don't need to make anymore trading deadline acquisitions as powe will in essence be that acquistion, but even better as he has been practicing with the team all year and should be able to inserted into the lineup without encountering any real sort of "adjustment issues" like someone who would actually be traded here would be.

i think what everyone wants is just to have the deck stacked in the cavs favor so that they have like what the indians had back in the 90's - an all-star at every position. they just don't feel comfortable because the cavs have lost a few games to the likes of the bobcats, grizzlies and houston along with games against dallas and denver when they were missing their superstar players in dirk nowitzki and carmelo anthony respectively. so what??? they still have the best record in the league and will more than likely have the best record and the # 1 seed throughout the playoffs when all is said and done.

that being said, would i like to see them make a trade to bring in someone along the lines of antawn jamison, david west, amare stoudemire, andre iguodala or troy murphy??? i certainly wouldn't mind it as long as it doesn't cause the cavs to upset the chemistry of their team. otherwise, they can simply stand pat and still win the championship. we can only hope. go cavs!!!

davemanddd wrote:in another thread we got a guy talking about all kinds of geeky stats and yet if we mention somebody who doesn't exactly fit his idea of a valid comparison, he says his head will explode. now we got a guy who uses corporate flowcharts to show how the cavs roster was developed???

now i think my head will explode.

"Meh. Calling me names on the internet is really no big deal, happens all the time." - e0y2e3

davemanddd wrote:in another thread we got a guy talking about all kinds of geeky stats and yet if we mention somebody who doesn't exactly fit his idea of a valid comparison, he says his head will explode. now we got a guy who uses corporate flowcharts to show how the cavs roster was developed???

now i think my head will explode.

yeah, i think i'd pay to see that too. in fact, i did a long time ago when they did it in "scanners". good stuff.

I was just thinking the other day that it seemed like this season/year you had finally started to get out of your box and absorb some outside information (in addition to becoming a generally better poster that was looking to become a better fan).

Don't fall back into the traps and information refusal, insane rambling, etc that has made you unreadable in the past.

I was just thinking the other day that it seemed like this season/year you had finally started to get out of your box and absorb some outside information (in addition to becoming a generally better poster that was looking to become a better fan).

Don't fall back into the traps and information refusal, insane rambling, etc that has made you unreadable in the past.

aye-aye, captain!!!

no but seriously though, i do absorb outside information and always take it under advisement. it's what keeps me coming back to these boards to see other people's opinions. i really do value them.

it's just that i get really overwhelmed by all the extended stats beyond just the regular points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots, steals and shooting percentages.

when you have to have an advanced math degree or engage in some theoretical scientific hypotheses to figure out whether or not a team or player is good or not, as opposed to just watching the games and seeing how things play out for yourself, well then that's where i draw the line.

that's why i don't engage in fantasy sports of any kind because i just don't get it. i root for my teams and players on my teams and that's it. i don't check their "vorp" or their "win score" to see whether or not i should pick them next week for my fantasy league. that's for techie-geeky guys who want to engage in that kind of stuff. more power to them. i will just settle for the entertainment value of watching the games themselves and not get bogged down in all the minute details.

davemanddd wrote:it's just that i get really overwhelmed by all the extended stats beyond just the regular points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots, steals and shooting percentages.

when you have to have an advanced math degree or engage in some theoretical scientific hypotheses to figure out whether or not a team or player is good or not, as opposed to just watching the games and seeing how things play out for yourself, well then that's where i draw the line.

that's why i don't engage in fantasy sports of any kind because i just don't get it. i root for my teams and players on my teams and that's it. i don't check their "vorp" or their "win score" to see whether or not i should pick them next week for my fantasy league. that's for techie-geeky guys who want to engage in that kind of stuff. more power to them. i will just settle for the entertainment value of watching the games themselves and not get bogged down in all the minute details.

I'm somewhere in the middle of you and Eye.

The thing about statistics is, all of them are imperfect to some degree. We're trying to quantify a performance that is in many ways unquantifiable. And the more complicated they get, the better they may be at accurately reflecting value ... but they are also that much more likely to leave people shaking their heads and saying, "huh?"

There's no doubt that some of today's statistical adjustments, like putting a player's performance in the context of opportunities (such as measuring per 100 possessions), make a lot of sense. A guy who scores 20 points in the relatively plodding Mike Brown-type offense is (everything else equal) much more effective than a (this one's for you, Eye) Monta Ellis-ish chucker whose points per game is partially the result of his team having that many more possessions per game. It's the same reason why RBI is a poor metric in baseball (it's as much a measure of the on-base percentage of the guys hitting in front of you as it is anything else).

But while I'm sympathetic to that POV, I'm also sympathetic to the POV that wants to just watch the games. I don't want to hijack the thread here, but much of the debate we've had in the past over Anderson Varejao's value is exactly those things that statistics don't capture. The numbers don't tell us how many charges he takes ... or how many times he taps a rebound to a teammate ... or how he can switch on defense in a way that few other big men can. But all of us not named Pup can see and appreciate those contributions.

Haven't quite said everything I want to say, but that's all the time I have for now. At least I got one of my two cents in.

If it flies, floats, or fornicates, always rent it -- it's cheaper in the long run.